Useful Windows 7 touch and multi-touch gestures demonstrated on video

We saw Windows 7's multi-touch capability way, way back in the day when Bill Gates was still at the wheel of Microsoft (uh hem, May). That demo was pretty limited to in-application touches and did little to show off the interaction with the OS and Internet browser -- the two places we find ourselves most often. Now we've finally got some video, brief as it is, that gives a better idea of what it might be like to work with arms out-stretched in front of you to manipulate icons and images on a desktop display. At about 4.20 into the video posted after the break, we see the usual panning and gesture controls already available in Vista on what looks to be HP's TouchSmart PC. We then learn that Microsoft's goal is to enable "most applications," out of the box with simple (think: pinch to zoom) multi-touch on day one of the Windows 7 launch. Individual apps can then be optimized to improve performance and offer a greater degree of touch and multi-touch control. As demonstrated in the video, finger flicks applied to Microsoft's optimized Internet Explorer send the scroll whizzing away compared with an un-optimized MS Word document (shown in a zooming gesture above) while gentle upward swipes to Windows 7 taskbar icons expose jump lists normally requiring a right mouse click. Interesting.

[Via NowhereElse]

[Patriks7 @ Oct 29th 2008 6:31AM]

If implemented well this will be a big killer.. hopefully WM gets to use this as well..

[C @ Oct 29th 2008 7:51AM]

That's a pretty big "if".

Btw, didn't Apple patented massively in the whole multi-touch idea?

[Kelmon @ Oct 29th 2008 7:57AM]

Why? With the exception of tablet PCs and kiosks, where do you see the practical application of this technology in your day-to-day computing? I am not going to be stretching to the screen to interact with my applications if I already have my hands on a keyboard and mouse. For starters, I have a hissy fit if anyone brings a finger (or, god forbid, a pen) close to my screen. Secondly, reaching for a screen is ergonomically uncomfortable. I love the idea of Microsoft's Surface technology for interactive tables but I cannot see a practical use yet for this technology when it comes to, for example, writing a document.

[cb88 @ Oct 29th 2008 11:46AM]

big killer ... of what? vista hahhah.... seriously Xorg on linux should have this by the end of they year (uber X11 hackers can allready patch up Xorg and get it now) it is called multipointer X11 or MPX you should check out the videos of compiz with it http://smspillaz.wordpress.com/2008/10/16/compiz-fusion-mpx-support-is-complete/

Mac has done it on the iPhone and Linux has done it on the desktop/server IMO windows is late to the game ... as always

[Jake Tobak @ Oct 29th 2008 9:51AM]

I agree that using a touch screen on a vertical monitor is a bit of a hassle, but I imagine it while using a tablet PC on my couch and holding it like a notebook (those things made of paper).

[Kali4 @ Oct 29th 2008 9:54AM]

@Kelmon

That question came up yesterday, here was my answer (forgive the copy/paste):

I can think of many ways that multitouch will keep me busy for hours and hours and hours:

I'm pinching your head!!
RTS Games
MMOs
Just think how much faster you can go when you can use two hands to point and click!

pron (yay boobies!)
Jokes about people looking at pron with multitouch but only using one hand...

Finger Paint(tm) (no mess, and Microsoft if you want to use this name you can find me on Engadget)
Google Maps (Kali's got the whole world in his hands)
Hackjob photoshopping together friends body parts for truly amusing Myspace posts
Any game that used to use a trackball (arcade bowling for example)

Mostly pron (why lie?)

[Coyote @ Oct 29th 2008 10:15AM]

I fail to see the home consumer/work place applications of this. Aside from the grimmy finger prints that would require the screen to be cleaned constantly I've spent the past 5 years teaching people NOT to touch the LCD screen and now they go out and encourage it!

[Mikey @ Oct 29th 2008 12:05PM]

@ C: I believe that Apple has only filed patent applications, with no issued patents yet, on its multi-touch technology. That means IF Apple's multi-touch patents ever issue (which wouldn't happen for several years) and IF this multi-touch application actually infringes those patents (both very big IFs... much bigger than Patrik's "if" you were criticizing) then Apple MIGHT be able to prevent MS from doing it (and that's an equally big MIGHT).

[Vander @ Oct 29th 2008 12:16PM]

It looks like it's going to crash when he make the enlargement trick.

[human @ Oct 29th 2008 6:32AM]

its okay to me but this should be more like update to vista (IN MY OPINION)
btw if you are looking for laptop get macbook pro you can run OSX WINDOWS and LINUX on it

[fh @ Oct 29th 2008 6:37AM]

Was a MBP plug really necessary?

[Patriks7 @ Oct 29th 2008 6:41AM]

Or you can get a cheap desktop and put hackintosh on it together with Windows and Linux.. but if you're into spending 2k+ for a shiny laptop just to run all 3 OSes on it then go ahead..

[Juxterium @ Oct 29th 2008 6:43AM]

You can also install Windows, Linux and OSX on any laptop costing 1/4 of the price, just Apple doesn't want you to for no reason but to boost hardware sales.

[aeth @ Oct 29th 2008 6:47AM]

aww. and you were going so good as well

[rob @ Oct 29th 2008 6:33AM]

Is it just me or is Mac OS X starting to look a little more "old" than this latest Windows OS? Looking at my Leopard dock, all I am seeing is a boring line of un-interactive icons starting back at me...

Maybe it's the time to switch...

[Patriks7 @ Oct 29th 2008 6:39AM]

But for Jobs adding such stuff would be a bag of hurt
After all Apple has never copied anyone and they never would to make their product better right?

[Henry @ Oct 29th 2008 6:44AM]

Maybe you should enable magnification for the dock icons?

[Derry Quinn @ Oct 29th 2008 6:50AM]

Don't Do It!

Wait, remember, Snow Leopard is just around the corner. Just wait until then :D

Personally, I think this "No new Features" thing is just a way of getting lots of new features in without giving the game away, see how Windows 7 is just improving Vista now too without too many new features?

But I have to say, if I could hover over my dock and see the windows open for that application like Windows 7, that would be awesome ;-)

[From My Cube @ Oct 29th 2008 6:54AM]

jobs will introduce a new "clear plastic doc" which is basically what vista is, people will roar with excitement and then blame MS for copying OSX....



Each OS has there year, OSX won this and last year becuase of Vista's flop maybe W7 ( ill go ahead and trademark that now) will win the next round...


Im sure people will flame me but Apple vs MS is the same as Nvidia vs AMD/ATI and its the same as GM vs Ford....every company has good years and some have bad...

[EMoShunz @ Oct 29th 2008 7:58AM]

you know, i wasn't sure until i saw this video, just suspected from the other articles... this is a lot like kde4. not that it's a bad thing, open source is open source, os x used bsd, khtml etc, it's about time ms did. i just wish there were more standards in the os space. let people choose based on preference, not because they are locked in.

[Kelmon @ Oct 29th 2008 7:59AM]

To be fair, the Dock could probably use the dynamic preview of document windows open for an application as the cursor hovers over it that you get in Vista and Windows 7. Beyond that, however, I have no complaints.

[Blaktornado @ Oct 29th 2008 8:15AM]

Yeah but that's the thing; the dock isn't the main part of making a Mac a Mac. Things like Expose are MUCH more important into how it works.
Don't get me wrong, the dock is good at launching apps and documents quickly, but even things like the Finder can do exactly what the dock does... or you can use Quicksilver. The dock isn't actually that important. It's primarily eye candy.

Don't get me wrong, Microsoft has filled Windows 7 with some nice looking "shine", but from a logical perspective, it just seems like they've made it HARDER to do what you could before (like you have to see the previews of the window you want to open before you can open it, instead of selecting the little button with the window name on it at a glance). I know it got a little over-crowded before, but this doesn't look very easy to use. Looks nice, yes, but not all that easy to use. Counter-productive.

[burnblue @ Oct 29th 2008 8:30AM]

@ BlakTornado: You don't have to preview the document before opening it, you can just click the button as usual. The new UI just offers you the opportunity to identify windows more easily while avoiding the clutter of an overcrowded taskbar.

[bondsbw @ Oct 29th 2008 9:06AM]

Rob, it's funny how you say that a year-old production version of OS X looks old compared to the very first preview of a version of Windows that won't be available for probably at least a year. That's because it IS old by comparison.

Snow Leopard is supposed to ship either at the same time or before W7. I'm sure, despite the claim that Snow Leopard has no new features, that it will look better than Leopard. Finder will be completely rewritten, and I have a feeling that the dock will be refined once again. Don't worry, OS X will get "newer" looking too.

My problem with Windows of late (I use Windows much more than OS X) is how cluttered it has become. XP was not nearly as hard to get around. Vista is really a great improvement in many areas, but the UI is net negative. W7 seems to improve some of the UI while making it visually more difficult to understand... I think the extra transparency really detracts from the user experience rather than helping out in any way.

[Scotty Doo @ Oct 29th 2008 6:47AM]

The guy holding the camera drunk or what?

[joe23521 @ Oct 29th 2008 9:59AM]

No kidding. As much as I wanted to see the whole thing, I just couldn't.

[Ray @ Oct 29th 2008 5:23PM]

I believe it was the same guy that shot Cloverfield

[Jash Sayani @ Oct 29th 2008 6:49AM]

Another piece of Apple Inspiration...

Now don't tell me that Vista had multi-touch, because it didn't !!!
Apple has made multi-touch more common via the iPhone and MacBooks....

[SewerShark @ Oct 29th 2008 7:26AM]

Yeah...After a lot of Microsoft Surface multitouch videos out on the internet.

[deyanimay @ Oct 29th 2008 7:27AM]

The dell latitude had multitouch and it ran vista.

[Kelmon @ Oct 29th 2008 8:09AM]

@SewerShark

With all due respect, do you really think that Apple's engineers saw the Surface videos and that's the first time they thought about a multi-touch interface? Let's not forget that Microsoft was hardly the first company to demonstrate such technology. Put another way, you have no idea when Microsoft or Apple "came up with the idea" and the reality is that they were probably inspired by various research projects (internal or external) produced many years in the past.

If it helps, I have the same problem when people claim that Apple thought of something first when they have absolutely no idea who thought of it or when.

[Mark Anderson @ Oct 29th 2008 8:18AM]

Who invented multitouch? The answer is neither Apple or MS.

Now that's been answered let's move on.

[Patriks7 @ Oct 29th 2008 9:11AM]

True they didn't invent it, but it was Apple that brought it to big usage.. I mean I doubt your average Joe knew that there was something as a touchscreen before he saw the iPhone/iPod Touch..

[MMaster23 @ Oct 29th 2008 9:52AM]

@Patriks7

Oh yeah sure .. the average Joe is an idiot who has never seen a touchscreen. Average consumer (unless you livei n country side) has been seeing touch screens all over the place. We have touch screen in elevators, coffee machines, information screens, voting booths (most secure component on an electronic voting booth i'm guessing ;)), remote controls etc.

Touch screens has been around for ages. Multi-touch, albeit cool, isn't all that. You don't need multi-touch. Sure zooming is cool and playing a small game of pong on a table is cool. But other then that, mutli-touch isn't that big a deal.

(Don't see this as an Apple bash.. I use an iPhone every day next to my not-so-multi-touchy Windows Mobile 6.1 devices. Great little machine, sucky battery and gimmicky multi-touch)

[SewerShark @ Oct 29th 2008 11:50AM]

@Kelmon

I Actualy never said that. What I've said is that microsoft started the multitouch hype when the surface videos started to pop up, folowed right up by apple.
You can say that apple started the multitouch smartphone thing. But cumputer related, It was microsoft.

The first multitouch was invented around 1982. Microsoft started to develop it's surface computer in 2004.

[Kelmon @ Oct 29th 2008 12:02PM]

@SewerShark

Again, I doubt this. I think we all know that the film "Minority Report" popularised the idea of interacting with a computer with your hands back in 2002 and I am quite sure that the touchscreen computers have been around for much longer than that. In fairness, the old Palm Pilots were touchscreen devices, although very simplistic in comparison. Where do you make the distinction between those sorts of devices (not forgetting the old Apple Newton) and devices like the iPhone and Microsoft's Surface? I rather think that it has been a gradual evolution over the past couple of decades, let alone something that appeared in the last few years.

[SewerShark @ Oct 29th 2008 4:26PM]

@kelmonOnce again, you misreaded me. I said multi-touch, not touch-screen. And you are right, I souldn't make a distinction on those devices.

Anyway, what I wanted to say is that the idea that Microsoft copied multi-touch from Apple is wrong, for 3 reasons.

1. Touch-screen, like you said, was nothing new.
2. Multi-touch concept and tecnology have been already made since 1982, but not really commercialized.
3. Surface was announced a few months (I don't have an exact time span for that) before iPhone rumors became real.

[Tim Brown @ Oct 29th 2008 6:51AM]

Is it me, or do they employ the same shakey, blury camera man for all IT video work?

[hi im a mac @ Oct 29th 2008 6:56AM]

i can see all windows users going blind, oh my bad they already are.

[rob @ Oct 29th 2008 6:58AM]

I'm not overly interested in Snow Leopard, from what I've heard its mostly performance updates (which is good of course) but nothing much on the UI side.

Microsoft is playing the "no new updates" card so people don't expect to much, and when/if it turns out to be good, they'll be praised. That's part of the prob with Mac events - everyone has mad predictions of Mac tablets, HFS etc that in reality are unlikely, and Apple suffers because there "wasn't much new" in the updates they have/.

And until Apple actually puts multi-touch in a laptop, I think MS can put it into whatever they want - you can't copy something that's yet to exist.... (and yes I have a Mac)

[Macca @ Oct 29th 2008 7:43AM]

You mac folk just like to slip that in. Every single post, "Yes, I have a Mac"

But I do agree with you.

[Kelmon @ Oct 29th 2008 8:12AM]

Oddly, I seem to recall that Bill Gates stated that only new features sell a product rather than performance/stability/security. He's probably right about that and we'll find out when Snow Leopard ships. One thing is for certain - it's going to be damned hard to market something based on bar charts showing benchmarks.

[suppaibeg @ Oct 29th 2008 10:51AM]

Apple already has a multi-touch laptop, they have since the original Macbook...


Scrolling, swiping, pinch to zoom, rotate, show desktop can all be done TODAY, and you get the luxury of not having to have your hands smudging your screen all day as well.

[ed. @ Oct 29th 2008 7:10AM]

It's really good to see that W7, even at this very early stage seems to be running very smoothly, even on a PC that is of a pretty normal spec for this day and age (lower end core 2 duo, pretty basic graphics chip and ram is plentiful and cheap nowadays). Word 07 seemed fast and that bit of flip 3d went without a hitch. The whole thing also seems pretty well integrated and streamlined even at such an early point in development.

[Soumya @ Oct 29th 2008 7:16AM]

Surely an Apple inspired add on type. arrgh, when will be d time for true innovation from MS?

[sit2k @ Oct 29th 2008 8:30AM]

if ms was so bad at innovation then why do they own 90% of the market?

let me explain something to you so you have an idea on life. at one time someone invented the wheel.. guess what? others started making them also... but better! are they copiers? absolutely not because they are improving on the idea.. it doesnt matter who comes up with the idea first, it's who makes it better and ms seems to make it better every single time as they did with vista.

the vista rumors are from uneducated individuals at best. i nor any of my customers have had any issues with vista and all love vista hands down.

apple will never own a real share of the market untill they become more compatable with others. they have been trying from day 1 to corner the market with their proprietary equipment and has not worked. why do they keep trying is amazing all by itself.

remember the 90's when apple allowed hardware manufacturers to make apple pcs?? guess what happened to that idea? the reason the idea did not work because the apple os is made to run on certain hardware and cannot get out of that box. xp on the otherhand as well as vista can work with anything out of the box (except if you try to install extremely old equipment to vista without any vender support) and can be installed on a mac without a hitch.

your hate towards ms is pathetic and need to understand that without ms we would not be this far into technology because jobs loves to control every single thing he gets into.

[WAAAAAH @ Oct 29th 2008 11:19PM]

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.

Never has the online world been filled with such a vast array of WHINERS.

Good god man. Vista is fixed, I run it everyday. Windows 7 looks like another small step in the right direction.

I could care less about the mac world.

[Karl @ Oct 30th 2008 7:41AM]

@WAAAAAH

It's called constructive critism, mixed with a little bit of healthy b*tching.


Vista is a good step up from XP, (it's just got an unfair rep)

-- No more bulky anti-virus software, I'm using Windows Firewall, Threatfire (Free) and UAC. all very light on resources and no unnecessary notifications (to an extent with UAC).

-- my computer shuts down when I click shut down. (It kept hanging during shut down using XP on my laptop)

-- Task manager, works well now.

… and it looks as though W7 will be another good step up (minus the stigma).

[Quikboy @ Oct 29th 2008 7:31AM]

So if you have a touchscreen or multi-touch monitor, could you 'hover' your finger of areas of the screen, and still have the same effects? Like a mouse 'hovering' over one of the Taskbar programs will show a thumbnail, could you do that with your finger?

[Cubfan786 @ Oct 29th 2008 7:36AM]

How would you be able to run vista osx and linux at the same time???
what software would you have to use???